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¨ Those rulers who have achieved great things in our own times have all been considered mean; all the others have failed.¨

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¨ Those rulers who have achieved great things in our own times have all been considered mean; all the others have failed.¨

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I chose this because sometimes you have to do ¨mean¨ things in order to accomplish your goals. And if you try to go the ¨nice¨ way more than likely you will end up failing along the way.

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"Those rulers who have achieved great things in our own times have all been considered mean; all the others have failed."

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"Those rulers who have achieved great things in our own times have all been considered mean; all the others have failed."

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This passage follows the theory that being mean or feared is necessary and a superior situation to uphold as a ruler, rather than being known as generous. I feel that this applied in historic society but I feel as though it would not apply in the same fashion today, due to changing cultures and moral priorities, and a different sense of what a ruler's role in society should be, vaguely exemplified in the shift from monarchy or autocracy to democracy, along with a greater sense of equality among people of different classes.

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"Everyone Is capable of seeing you, but few can touch you. Everyone can see what you appear to be, few have direct experience with what you really are; those few will not dare to challenge the popular view." 

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"Everyone Is capable of seeing you, but few can touch you. Everyone can see what you appear to be, few have direct experience with what you really are; those few will not dare to challenge the popular view." 

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This quote represents the real power a prince has, the people that are under may know something about you that could lead to hostility in the people, but your power makes you seem above doing something wrong. What could potentially be said to hurt you might not even get out to the public or not even be accepted in the first place.

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"A controversy has arisen about this: whether it is better to be loved than fear, or vice versa"
This quote really resonated with me because it brings up the debate whether it is better to be feared or loved. When reading this quote, I took a step back to think about how I feel about this controversy. I feel that this topic can bring up a good debate/discussion.

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Passage: "If one wants to keep up a reputation for being generous, one must spend lavishly and ostentatiously . The inevitable outcome of acting in such ways is that the ruler will consume all his resources in sumptuous display".

Why I chose this passage is because if a leader of a nation wants to continue this reputation they must continuously spend there resources there by draining all the resources and risk losing everything.

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"What will make him despised is being inconstant, frivolous, effeminate, pusillanimous and irresolute: a ruler must avoid contempt as if it were a reef. He should contrive that his actions should display grandeur, courage seriousness and strength, and his decisions about the private disputes of his subjects should be irrevocable. He should maintain this reputation, so that no one should think of lying to him or scheming to trick him."

Chosen because I think this really summarizes Machiavelli's ideal ruler, one who personifies strength while remaining steadfast in their policies/beliefs.

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"My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved"

This means that being feared is actually a better safeguard for a person's rule than being loved. Fear makes people obey and keep your state more orderly than could be done just by being well-liked by the subjects.

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"Everyone knows it is praiseworthy for a ruler to keep his promises, and live uprightly and not by trickery. Nevertheless, experience shows that in our times the ruler who have done great things are those who have set little store by keeping their word, being skillful rather in cunningly deceiving men; they have got the better of those who have relied on being trustworthy." This shows that even in the past many rulers didn't hold their promises, but that doesn't matter as long as what they do is for the good of the people.

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"...should not be afraid of his own shadow. He should act with due prudence and humanity so that being over-confident will not make him incautious and being too suspicious will not render him insupportable" 

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"...should not be afraid of his own shadow. He should act with due prudence and humanity so that being over-confident will not make him incautious and being too suspicious will not render him insupportable" 

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I choice this quote because it shows how a leader needs to walk carefully between being confident, but not too confident they aren't cautious, and being suspicious of other but not too suspicious that they are paranoid. This quote also does a good job of displaying how Machiavelli argued for rulers to walk carefully in between two ideas and never to follow only one thing.

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"Therefore, a prudent ruler cannot keep his  word, nor should he, when such fidelity would damage him, and when the reasons that made his promise are no longer relevant. This advice could not be sound if all men were upright' but because they are treacherous and would not keep their promises to you, you should not consider yourself bound to keep your promises to them"

This gives power to the prince saying that he doesn't always have to keep his promises because there can be points in his rule where there has to be a decision made that does not allow the prince to follow. It also describes how mankind will not keep their promises (due to their nature) so, the prince doesn't have to.

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"Nothing enables a ruler to gain more prestige than undertaking great campaigns and preforming unusual deeds"

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"Nothing enables a ruler to gain more prestige than undertaking great campaigns and preforming unusual deeds"

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He is trying to say that a ruler will gain more prestige, not by ruling well or keeping his people happy, but by publicly achieving unusual goals and promising large campaigns to their people.

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"Therefore, if a ruler can keep his subjects united and loyal, he should not worry about incurring a reputation for cruelty; for by punishing a very few he will really be more merciful than those who over-indulgently permit disorders to develop, with resultant killings and plunderings. For the latter usually harm a whole community, whereas the executions ordered by a ruler harm only specific individuals 

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"Therefore, if a ruler can keep his subjects united and loyal, he should not worry about incurring a reputation for cruelty; for by punishing a very few he will really be more merciful than those who over-indulgently permit disorders to develop, with resultant killings and plunderings. For the latter usually harm a whole community, whereas the executions ordered by a ruler harm only specific individuals 

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This passage from "The Prince" explains the importance of a ruler to maintain a balance between cruelty and mercy. I believe that this is very applicable to politics today and life in general; in most cases, it's important to protect the majority of citizens by punishing the few who have caused harm. This benefits society and maintains order when necessary.

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"One needs, then, to be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten any wolves."

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"One needs, then, to be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten any wolves."

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I think this small quote is very important for a leader to understand. What i took from it is that one would have to be sly and slightly deceiving in order to succeed as a leader. Along with that, they must have the strength to rule a country and to keep his people safe. The reading explains the importance of keeping these to qualities balanced, and what may happen if such doesn't happen.

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"it must be concluded that he was a very fierce lion and a very cunning fox, who was feared and respected by everyone, and was not hated by his soldiers. And it should be a matter of surprise that he, a new ruler, was able to rule such a great empire: for his immense prestige always protected him from the hatred that the people might have had for him because of his rapacious deeds."

This passage goes along with and enhances Machiavelli's idea that a ruler must act like a fox and a lion. He must frighten the "wolves" and recognize the "traps". The wolves meaning the dangers and hardships that may come upon his kingdom and traps meaning the ways other can manipulate such a ruler.

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"I shall be so bold as to say that having and always cultivating them is harmful, whereas seeming to have them is useful; for instance to seem merciful, trustworthy, humane, upright and devout...a ruler cannot always act in ways that are considered good to maintain his power, he is often forced to act treacherously, ruthlessly, or inhumanely"

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"I shall be so bold as to say that having and always cultivating them is harmful, whereas seeming to have them is useful; for instance to seem merciful, trustworthy, humane, upright and devout...a ruler cannot always act in ways that are considered good to maintain his power, he is often forced to act treacherously, ruthlessly, or inhumanely"

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I feel this quote summarizes a part of Machiavelli's thoughts. He believes a leader must appear to the public to be honest and humane, but in reality he must be strict and cruel in order to lead an efficient society and have order. Machiavelli believes that actually being trusting and good will lead to one being betrayed or not able to keep order. The quote states that a leader must appear to be good, but must be prepared to act inhumanely in order to maintain his power and defend himself and his nation.

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"You should know, then, that there are two ways of contending: one by using laws, the other, force. The first is appropriate for men, the second for animals; but because the former is often ineffective, one must have recourse to the latter. Therefore, a ruler must know well how to imitate beasts as well as employing properly human means.

The passage covers how Machiavelli believes rulers need to treat their people and be effective. Without using proper force, they will be unsuccessful. He reiterates these thoughts repeatedly throughout the entirety of The Prince.